The Ring
by csyphrett
Summary: Dr. Cole Sear hires Jimmy McNulty to find a woman to return some personal property.


The Ring

1

Dr. Cole Sear paused just inside the door. His breath hung in the air as he looked around. He usually only visited drinking establishments when he was called on the job. This was an exception. He scanned the room until he saw the man he was looking for.

He wondered if this was the right way to do what he said he would do. He hunched in his coat and considered his options. He didn't have that many so his consideration only took a second before he advanced in the room.

"Doc?" Jimmy McNulty looked up from the glass in front of him. "What brings you by?"

"Two coffees." Sear held up two fingers to the bartender. "I need a favor, McNulty."

"I don't see how I can help you." McNulty downed the rest of his alcohol in one gulp.

"I need this favor, McNulty." Sear sat down at the bar. He hunched in his coat. "I know you can help me."

"I don't see how." Jimmy smiled. "I can't even help myself."

"This involves some detective work." Sear watched as the two cups of coffee were poured out for him. "And you were the best detective in the district."

"Two districts." McNulty declared. "That's all gone with my pension."

"Making up a serial killer will do that for you." Sear took one of the cups and passed the other to the former detective. "What were you thinking?"

"Getting enough money to shut Marlo Stansfield down." McNulty stared at the coffee. "It seemed the way to go."

Sear shook his head. As a medical examiner, he had been involved in helping clear the houses of dead people that Stansfield and his gang had stacked up while controlling the drug trade.

The bureaucracy had been shook up by the thought that a serial killer was at work until all that had come down around McNulty's ears. He had been fired when the truth that he had made up a serial killer had come out.

Sear had gotten part of the story through the paper, and part through office gossip. If anyone had the audacity to lie to the whole city, it was Jimmy McNulty.

"Can you still be a detective?" Sear sipped his coffee. "I need to know if you still have your skills."

"What's this about, Doc?" Jimmy sipped the coffee.

"Something has come into my possession and I need to find the owner." Sear pulled out a piece of paper. He handed it over.

"What's this?" McNulty looked at the neat writing on the paper.

"It's the last address I have for her." Sear finished his coffee. "Can you find her?"

"I can find anybody." The former detective frowned. "I don't have any money to start a search. I'm broke and living on unemployment until its gone."

"I'll pay you." Sear pulled out a checkbook. "I'll want receipts, and progress reports. Can you do that?"

"I was a cop." McNulty put the paper away with a grin. "I can write reports."

"Not a fake report." Sear stood. "I mean a real report. That's the only way I can justify the expenses."

"Don't worry." McNulty drank the rest of the coffee down. "I'll include pictures."

Sear wrote out a check and handed it over.

"That is to get you started." Sear stood up. "Don't spend it all on booze and women."

"What happens when I find this woman for you?" The ex-detective wondered who cut the air conditioner on. The air displayed their breaths as clouds floating between them.

"See if you can bring her in so I can hand over her belongings." Sear started for the door. "She'll have to sign for it."

McNulty watched the doctor leave. He sipped at his coffee to warm up a little, and clear the booze out of his brain. He put the check in his pocket. He considered cashing the check and spending the money on any piece that would take him.

He sipped the rest of his coffee. He thought about the problem. He had nothing better to do. He didn't have a job where he could grandstand and show his brains. All he had was Jim Beam and a random girl when he could get one.

Bunk Moreland would want him to take the job and try to straighten out despite the fact he cheated on his own wife.

McNulty didn't have a challenge, and the one thing he was good at had been ripped from him. Would this be the thing he needed to at least look like he was back and looking for a job?

He called for another cup of coffee while he thought about the hole he had made of his life. He wasn't much better than the crooks he had chased.

Maybe this was what he needed.

He took the coffee and sipped it down quietly. He pushed the empty cup away. He felt a little more sober than he had. He would have to walk the rest of it off while he thought about what he was going to do.

Maybe Sear didn't think he could do the job. Or maybe this was the doctor's way of trying to help him out. It didn't matter.

McNulty pulled on his jacket and paid his tab. He could drink when he had a handle on Sear's mystery woman.

He stepped out in the street and started walking. He waved at the women calling at him as he moved on. He could get some loving later. The thought that he might be able to get back in the game in some capacity sent a shiver through his spine.

This might be a way to be a cop without having to deal with politics and buttheads who got in the way instead of helping doing the job.

He smiled. He would love to rub it in that he was still out there doing things. Solving some homicides and showing up the brass would be great.

Would Sear help him do that? The doc seemed to only care about clearing his cases as fast as possible. Once he had enough for a determination, he was out of the investigation unless something else came up, or things went to trial.

Would he release information to someone outside of the system to be used? How much did he care about politics and playing the numbers game?

The squad's read on Sear was he was weird but good at his job. Sometimes he came up with things that no one even thought of that helped close the case. All he needed was a body and a test tube.

But he was trustworthy. He never skewed results. He looked for reasonable causes before making a determination. He pointed out places to be searched for clues. He didn't claim any glory for uncovering connected murders.

However he was involved in this missing person case, he had gotten involved through someone dead. There was no doubt about that in the detective's mind. Who had died seemed to be a side issue compared to what he had been asked to do.

McNulty stopped at a corner and frowned. His brain had lifted itself out of the soaking he had given it and was putting him on track.

He had two mysteries here. One was where had the girl gone. The other was why had Sear asked him to find her. Neither seemed to have a relatively easy answer at the moment in the middle of the night.

He looked up at the crescent moon and shrugged. He had been put out of the cop game. Maybe he could do something with his life that helped him get back some of that feeling of being the best at solving things.

It might let him give Rawls the finger on top of everything else. That was worth staying sober for a couple of days.

He smiled at the thought of showing Rawls he was still the best. He had already stuck the man with thirteen bodies to screw up his clear count. He had run the Major Case squad and Homicide with more clearances than anyone under the guise of a big lie. He could find a girl and let her know someone had remembered her.

Then he would love to turn to Rawls and tell him to suck it.

McNulty smiled. That would be the best thing about this if he could pull it off.

He turned and headed for his apartment. He needed to sleep off the booze before he got to work on Sear's problem. He wanted to be almost sober when he got started.

2

McNulty glared at the sun as it shone on his face. He rolled over to fight the call to action. The meeting with Sear seemed almost like a dream. He groaned and pulled himself out of bed to get started with his day.

He slouched into his small kitchenette and put together some breakfast consisting of cold pizza and juice from the fridge. Then he looked out the window while he ate. The sun gave him a squint as he watched the street.

How did he get started with this job?

He decided that he needed to start checking into the background of his only lead. Then he could start branching out from there.

It was a tried and true technique that worked half the time. The times it didn't, the missing person, or murder vic, didn't know what was happening to them when it happened and didn't know the killer.

McNulty wondered if any of his old partners on the squad would help him with the scut work. Maybe Bunk, or Lester, would give him something to get started.

He couldn't really expect much, but anything they could give him would move things in the right direction.

He wondered how much trouble this would cause him personally. He had a sense that Sear hadn't told him all of the problem during the recruiting pitch. Did this involve more than finding a heir and informing she could expect some money down the line?

What was Sear hiding, and was it important to finding the girl? Did he really want to know?

McNulty found a clean set of clothes in his laundry basket. He cleaned up and got dressed as he thought about his moves. He would have to put on some charm to get through the cold exteriors of his former friends.

He checked to make sure he still had the slip of information and the check. He would need both sometime in the near future.

Why had Sear asked him? There were other detectives that could handle this a lot faster than he could since he was on the outside looking in.

McNulty put the doubt away. He was the best ex-detective in two districts. If he couldn't figure out what happened, no one else would be able to either.

And he wanted the chance to brag he still had his old skills and deductive abilities to his former comrades.

Giving Rawls the figurative finger only spiced up the challenge as far as he was concerned.

He headed for headquarters along old routes that he hardly ever used anymore. He paused outside just long enough to note that things hadn't changed that much.

He walked inside, nodding to patrolmen and detectives as he went. The Major Case Squad was in the basement. He headed there first. That would be where some of his people would be.

If there was no one there, he would try upstairs in the homicide office.

He wondered sometimes what would have happened if he hadn't done what he did. He might even have moved up into a captain slot, or a deputy chief. He was just that good.

He asked himself what had he done as he descended to the squad room.

He knew what he had done and the question didn't need to be answered.

He stepped into the room. He couldn't help the smile on his face as he spotted another of Freamon's doll houses sitting on a desk.

He missed this place.

"Excuse me?" A voice made McNulty look over his shoulder. "McNulty? I thought you had drank yourself to death under a bridge somewhere."

"Naw." Jimmy smiled. "How's it going, Carver?"

"Still chasing the bad guys." Carver smiled. "How's it going for you?"

"I kind of have a job." McNulty looked around. "I need some background information for a missing person I'm searching for."

"So you came here to talk to your friends on the force." Carver nodded. "Step into my office. I'll see what I can do."

"Your office?" McNulty followed the younger man into the commanding officer's office.

"When Daniels got kicked upstairs, I got promoted into his spot here." Carver sat down behind his desk. "I've been trying to keep an eye on Lester, if you know what I mean."

"He's shifty with the reading glasses and don't disappoint me, son." McNulty sat down in one of the visitor chairs. "Congratulations on your promotion, Carver."

"Thanks." Carver eyed the older man. McNulty had been the worse case of defiance against the brass and the best detective at the same time. People still talked about him giving the middle finger to Bill Rawls's clearance rate with glee and a gleam in their eye. "You said something about a missing person?"

"All I have is a name and the last known address." McNulty handed over the slip of paper. "I was hoping to run her through the computer and see where that leads me."

"Why are you looking for her?" Carver typed in the name and address and let the machine start doing its work.

"Doc Sear asked me to find her." McNulty shrugged at the look that got him. "He says he came across some personal stuff that he wants to give to her but couldn't find her."

"Cole Sear?" Carver frowned at his guest. "I didn't think he left his morgue."

"He's good at that stuff." McNulty snorted. "He once found a piece of hair that was a mix of different hairs and tracked all of the donors down."

"It says here that your girl left a forwarding address out of state." Carver pulled at his lip as he read the readout. "Five arrests, two convictions. One for attempted murder."

"Who did she try to kill?" McNulty wondered again what the doc was into.

"Ex-boyfriend." Carver shook his head. "Set him on fire from what I can see here."

"Where did she settle?" This was his starting point. This was where he would find out if he had the old skills, or he should drink himself to death.

"The address is some place in Texas called Paradise." Carver printed out the mug shot that went with the file and handed it over. "What do you think is going on?"

"I don't know yet." McNulty looked at the unflattering picture. He folded it up and put it in his leather coat. "Sear said he had some belongings to give her. Maybe that's the truth. It's hard to see what he gains out of it."

"You sure he wasn't helping you with the vagrant killer?" Carver smiled to take the sting out of the words.

"He can't tell a honest lie to save his life." McNulty smiled. "Thanks for the help, Ellis."

"I'll tell Lester you came by to ask him for some advice." Carver stood. He held out his hand. "He'll be pleased."

McNulty laughed as he shook the other's hand. "Take care of yourself, Carver. Policing is a bad job, but it can also be the best."

"Do you miss it?" Carver walked the visitor to the door.

"All the time." McNulty needed to talk to Sear. He needed to know how far the doc wanted to go to find this woman.

"Be careful, McNulty." Carver stood in the squad room door. "If she set her ex on fire, there's no telling what she will do to you."

"See you around, Carver." McNulty waved a hand as he headed for the front door.

He definitely needed to talk to Sear. Maybe he had done the job with a simple search. One phone call should take care of the rest.

He thought it would be better to talk to the doc in person. Either he was done, or he was on his way to Texas.

He had the feeling he would be going to Texas.

McNulty wondered if the doc would be cutting dead people up, or in court. He decided to try the morgue first. If the doc wasn't there, then he could leave a message and go home.

He got behind the wheel of his car and headed for the morgue. Once he had a talk with the doc, he could get on with the rest of his unemployed life.

He pulled into the morgue parking lot and took a moment to plan what he was going to tell Sear when they met. Right now, he had nothing but a lead that he didn't know would pan out.

It was up to Sear to come up with money for him to travel to Paradise, Texas.

McNulty headed into the rundown building. It bothered him that the woman had set someone on fire and had only avoided a murder charge because the victim ran out in the street and got help before the flames cooked him.

It takes a certain personality to set a man on fire.

A bullet would have been cleaner and faster in his opinion.

3

Cole Sear hovered over a liver. He made notes on a clipboard on weight, size, and condition. It wasn't healthy looking in his opinion.

"Have you got a minute, Doc?" McNulty stopped at the door of the autopsy room. He had seen enough dead bodies that one more wasn't going to be a problem. He just didn't want to discuss business with a corpse cut open on the table.

"Sure." Sear placed the liver on a tray before taking off his gloves. He threw them in a trashcan as he walked to the door. "He's not going anywhere."

McNulty wondered when the morgue had got so cold as he backed away from the door. He could see frost in the air when he breathed.

"What happened to him?" He blamed curiosity for the question. He couldn't help being the detective.

"Exsanguination." Sear tapped his lab coat over his ribs. "Two stab wounds, and then left to bleed out."

"I asked one of the guys to do a computer search for your girl." McNulty wondered if they caught the stabber for a moment. "She moved to Texas."

"That's unexpected." Sear paused. "Can you find her there?"

"Maybe." McNulty shrugged. "She might have moved on from there. I can go down and look around."

Sear looked around the empty hall. He seemed to be thinking about the cost of what he wanted done. He obviously hadn't expected the search to leave the city.

"I have some money I can front you for a bus ticket." Sear's boyish face firmed as he made his decision. "Use it wisely."

"Thanks." McNulty smiled. "You know your girl set an ex on fire, don't you?"

"No." Sear frowned. "Just hand her the note and property. That should do it."

"The property?" McNulty scratched his eyebrow.

"I'm going to give it to you so you can hand it off." Sear checked his watch. "Can you meet me at the bar at about five. I'll get what you need and bring it by."

"Sounds reasonable." McNulty checked his own watch. That gave him three hours.

"Thanks, McNulty." Sear started to go back in the autopsy room to finish his job.

"I do have one question." McNulty raised a hand to make him pause. "Why are you trusting me with this?"

"I have known a lot of detectives." Sear paused to put his thoughts in order. "I won't say you're the best or the brightest. That would be too much. But you get things done. That's what I need at the moment. I need someone who can do what has to be done."

"Got it." McNulty smiled. "I can live with that."

"Three hours." Sear started into the cold room. "Don't get hammered."

"I'm good." McNulty smiled as he started for the exit. He didn't think it was his imagination that the hall had warmed up when Sear had walked back into his work room.

The man carried cold air around with him like a patch of winter.

McNulty headed back to his car. He had three hours to kill. He should head home and pack. He needed to tell Bee that he was going out of town. He was making things work with her. He didn't want to screw it up now.

A ride out to Texas was going to be a long way from her. He hoped she understood. He had been casting about since losing his job. Now he had something that he could do that kept him out of trouble and satisfied his need to find things out.

Maybe he could get an investigator's license and do this kind of job for real.

He mulled it over as he drove home. Following cheaters around didn't appeal to him. Maybe he could find someone who would hire him to search for evidence in contested cases.

It might be good to match his wits with other guys.

He knew cold cases were out there. Maybe he could hire himself out to be the guy who could solve them.

He smiled at that thought. How much could he make solving a case very few people cared about in the first place?

He pulled up to his apartment building and went inside. His place called out to him in its despair and loneliness. He checked his watch. He had a small amount of time. He picked up the biggest trash and put his dirty clothes in the laundry hamper. He stacked the dirty dishes in the sink as quickly as possible. Then he packed a bag for his trip.

He called and left a message on Bee's phone since he didn't have time to swing by her place. He checked his watch again. Time to head to the bar.

A half empty bottle of whiskey sat on the shelf by the door. He picked it up and looked at it. Then he poured it down the sink and threw the bottle away.

There was no point in letting it sit there if he was cutting down on his drinking.

He headed down to his car and threw the bag in the back seat. He considered what Sear meant by property, but put it out of his mind. He would find out when they met.

He wondered what made this something so extraordinary that Sear had actually gone out of his way to hire someone to find the girl. Most people would just put the stuff in the mail and declared the job done.

Sear was going above and beyond in his duty as a medical examiner.

He found a parking place and locked up before he was due to the bar. He saw Sear's old station wagon in a lot down the street. That car stood out in the middle of the cars parked there.

McNulty walked into the bar and found Sear was sitting at the bar at the back of the room. He had ordered a soda for himself. He hunched over it in his big coat.

"How's it going, Doc?" The detective smiled as he settled on a stool. "What's with the coat?"

"I get chills." Sear reached into a pocket and pulled out an envelope. "This is all the money I can spare. It should be enough for a ticket to Texas."

"I didn't have time to write out a report like you wanted." McNulty grinned as he took the envelope. "This is the arrest summary for your girl and the last known address. I'll put it in a case file for you when I get back."

He handed over the printout from Carver as he put the money away.

"This is the note and property." Sear looked at the picture with a small scowl. He handed over another envelope. The impression in the paper looked like a ring to the detective. He felt it to make sure as he put it in his pocket with the money. "It's not much, but it's all the dead woman had."

"So I go down to Texas, hand over the envelope, come back." McNulty smiled. "It seems easy enough."

"Don't forget to keep your receipts and write everything down." Sear handed back the picture. "I'll need to justify the expenses at some point."

"Don't worry." McNulty put the picture away. "Right now, I have only spent ten dollars in gas."

"Drink, McNulty?" The bartender came down to their end, glass in hand.

"Let me have some coffee, George." McNulty smiled at his surprise. "I have to get going."

"Be careful, Jimmy." Sear sipped some of the drink out of his glass. "This is supposed to be a smooth hand over of property. I don't want to read about you getting set on fire."

"Trust me." McNulty smiled. "I don't plan to let her touch a gas can while I am around."

"Don't forget the reports." Sear stood and put money down for his drink.

Cold air followed him as he left the bar. McNulty knew it wasn't his imagination because people shuddered as the doctor passed. It was no wonder he wore a big coat like that.

McNulty's coffee arrived and he sipped on it while he thought about what he was going to do.

He decided against taking the bus. He could drive to Texas in a day, take care of his business, and drive back. That gave him three, or four, days. Then he could write up the reports and hand back whatever money he hadn't spent.

He added in two days in case he wanted to take a break from the driving.

He finished his coffee and headed for the door with a wave for George. Texas was hours away, and he needed to fill up both himself and his car before he took off. He gave Bee one more call to let her know he was going out of town. He hated to leave it in her voice mail, but something was better than nothing to his mind.

He also needed a Rand-Mcnally to get there from Maryland.

He walked out to his car and checked the envelope of spending money Sear had given him. He had enough to fill up his car four times if he didn't get anything on the way.

He put the money in the glove box and headed for the nearest gas station. After that he was headed out of town.

He would stop somewhere and get something to eat on the road. That would be quicker than going home and eating out of his fridge, or stopping at some place in town.

The faster he left, the quicker he could get back.

It also removed the temptation of just drinking the money away before he got done with the job.

4

Jimmy McNulty pulled to a stop after his long drive. He shook his head. Paradise was a post office and a general store surrounded by trees. The woman he wanted to talk to had to live beyond this bastion of civilization in a trailer park somewhere.

He decided that he should ask at either one of the two brick buildings. Someone in one of the places should know the name. Then he could work on an address.

How hard could it be to track someone down? He smiled. It could be as hard as the fugitive wanted to make it. He had seen people hide for years, and people who couldn't hide to save their lives.

The woman he wanted to talk to should be out in the open and doing her business without a care in the world. That should make it easier to find her.

McNulty decided to try the post office first. Maybe a carrier would be familiar with the address and point him in the right direction.

He pulled his car into the lot. He got out, looking around. The street was quiet. He was used to people on the street. He didn't have that here. Where was everyone?

He walked into the post office. He looked around, smiling at the wanted posters on the wall. He headed for the counter. He paused when he realized he was looking at a one man operation, and the one man looked like Methuselah.

"How's it going?" McNulty smiled as he crossed to the counter. "I was hoping you could help me."

"What can I do for you, young man?" The postman glared at the ex-detective from under his out of control eyebrows that puffed out like clouds.

"I'm looking for a girl and I need some directions to her place." McNulty pulled out his pad and gave the old man the address.

"That's out on the other side of town." The postman frowned at the address. "Let me think for a second."

The postman pulled a scrap of an envelope from his desk and wrote down a series of directions in a crisp hand. He nodded when he was done. He handed over the envelope with a smile.

"This should take you where you need to go." He pointed out the main windows of the post office. "That road is Number 9. Stay on that until you see the marker, and you should be set."

"Thanks for the help." McNulty smiled. He read the directions, and put the paper away. "This should make my job a lot easier."

"Watch your back out there." The postman put his hands in his pockets. "A lot of rough customers out there."

"I don't plan to be out there long." McNulty waved as he headed out of the post office. He decided to go over to the general store and use the bathroom and get a drink before he tried to find the place.

The directions should make things easier for him so he could get back to Baltimore ahead of schedule.

Maybe the girl knew what the ring meant. He should ask her if he was positive she wouldn't try to set him on fire.

He walked into the general store. The people standing around buying things was a whole lot less friendlier than the postmaster he had just talked to across the way. He ignored it as he got a drink out of the cooler and got in line.

Cops always got dirty looks. This was no different than when he had been on duty.

He waited patiently for the line to clear away ahead of him. He put the bottle of drink on the counter when his turn came up. The lady behind the counter glared at him, but he smiled back.

"How's it going?" He pulled out his money and handed over the price of the drink.

"Fair." The woman didn't look him in the eye. It had been a while since she could pull off the shy young girl part, especially the young part of things.

"You wouldn't happen to know a good place to eat around here, would you?" McNulty didn't like the way the group pressed in on him from all sides. "I'm passing through, and I thought I might as well get something to eat first."

"You can try Martha's." The old woman pointed at a wall. "Go down the road, turn left, and then look for a yellow sign out front."

"Thanks." McNulty smiled at her, looked at the men who fell back. He opened his bottle and walked to the door. He didn't like the way their reflections glared at him as he reached for the handle. He decided not to press it.

Maybe they didn't like strangers in their town.

He smiled at that. He didn't like a lot of people he knew who weren't strangers in his town.

He wondered what would happen if he pushed them a little. What would they do? Would he have to shoot one of them with his piece? Why didn't they like strangers?

He leaned against his car and sipped at his drink. He watched the general store. The guys inside stood at the windows and watched him back. He smiled at them.

They were making him want to stay around and find out what was going on.

Did he really want to do that? He only had a bit of money. He couldn't hang around forever.

He didn't like the vibe these people were giving him. They seemed to hate strangers for no reason.

Maybe he should call Bunk and ask for some background information. Maybe he had a high drug area and they thought he was there to bust them.

Nobody liked cops, and everybody had secrets. Cops and secrets were things that went together like peanut butter and jelly.

What was the secret everybody was hiding and no one wanted him to find out?

He would talk to Bunk later. It wasn't his problem that these people didn't like him. He had a job to do, and then he could drive back to Baltimore.

He made a note to sleep in a hotel away from town so he didn't have to worry about them trying to get into his room while he was sleeping. That was something that always came next according to his years of police work.

The moment the bad guys started suspecting an informant, they started searching for bugs and police contacts on the phone.

He didn't want his meager bag searched over something stupid.

He wondered if the girl he was supposed to give the ring to was in trouble with the locals. They might not like him talking to her. They wouldn't see the ring as much of a reason for a talk.

It wouldn't be the first time some civilian got killed because the local gang thought she was blabbing about their business.

It would be up to her if she wanted to move to Baltimore. Sear made it sound like the ring was all she was entitled to but maybe he didn't know what else she could get out of things.

Or maybe the old lady was so poor the ring was the only evidence she had existed at all.

Why had Sear given it to him to deliver? Couldn't he have given it to the Post Office, or FedEx, to hand to the girl and get her signature for it? Why send someone he knew to do the job?

Why was Sear so crazy?

McNulty decided the best thing was hand over the ring and head out of town. He could eat somewhere else, and sleep at a hotel in the next county. Things were too creepy and were tempting him off the sober path.

He finished his drink and put the empty can in the trashcan. He got in his car and pulled out on the street. He had the post office guy's directions. They would have to do until he found a place where he could buy a map without everyone looking over his shoulder.

He noted one of the cars had pulled out behind him as he drove along. What was this guy's problem? Why was he so interested in an out of towner making his way through the county?

He would definitely have to call Bunk and see what was going on out there. Maybe the drug trade had a pipe through there and they didn't want a stranger like him finding it.

It made him want to find it all the more since they didn't seem to think that leaving him alone was the best policy. He might have to shoot a couple of them. At least he had been current on his marksmanship before he had gotten bounced from the force.

He doubted Sear knew about this. The guy only left the morgue to go to conferences and track things down about his bodies. No way would he know about a crazy town in the middle of nowhere Texas wanting to cause problems about a simple delivery.

Why did things always have to get complicated when he wanted them to be simple and smooth enough to dance on?

He supposed it was the nature of the world that bad guys wanted to test themselves against him and he wanted to chase them and put them in prison for as long as a maximum sentence could be so they didn't hurt anyone else with their stupidity.

He checked his directions and thought that he was on the right road. He was going to drive down until he saw the next place he was supposed to go, or until he saw a convenience store. He would get a map and put the directions against so he knew exactly where he was anytime they made a move.

And he wasn't that confidant that the directions made sense.

The car stayed behind him until he just happened to find the road he was looking for and turned on it. He drove down eyes on the numbers. He decided to come back that night. There were too many other things going on. There was no telling what would happen if he stopped.

He drove past the address, scoping it out as he went. His tail followed him.

5

Jimmy went through two more neighborhoods like he was searching for something. His shadow stayed on him the whole way. He decided to find a hotel and get a room. If the guy was still waiting for him when he went out the next day, then he might express his authority.

What was so important about the ring that someone was willing to follow him around town to see what he did?

What was missing? Did the follower have something to do with the woman he had to give the ring to so he finish with things? Did Sear know?

Maybe a night in a bed and a call to Bea would put him in the right mood. He hoped he hadn't walked inside something he needed to shoot someone to get out of so he could go home.

He doubted it would be that simple. It almost never was.

McNulty found a decrepit place off the highway out of town. He would try to get rid of the ring tomorrow. Then he was going back to Baltimore and let Sear know things had gone as planned.

He frowned as he got out of the car. They weren't exactly as planned. He should be able to get rid of the ring if he could get rid of the guy sitting across the road watching him.

Why the tail? Did they dislike outsiders that much? He might have to get answers to his questions before he delivered the ring. Sear would have to understand that he couldn't give up the thing if someone was around willing to hurt the girl for it.

McNulty doubted that she had made that many friends if the town knew about her setting her former boyfriend on fire.

If char grilled guy was a popular good old boy, it would explain why they were following him around. If you had someone you didn't like in your town, and someone showed up to look for her, it might look suspicious to the wrong type of guys.

He supposed he should expect visitors later. Then questions about his intentions with some kind of knife was usually the next thing. It looked like he was sleeping in the bathroom again.

He hoped he was wrong. All he needed was a good night's sleep. Then he could finish the job and head back to Baltimore. He didn't want any complications to that.

He had a feeling that things were already getting more complicated than he wanted.

He inspected the room, nodding at the lack of television and the hardness of the bed. He took the pillows and put them in the bath tub. He cut off the lights in the bedroom part of the room and went in the bathroom. He cut the lights and laid down in the bath tub and put his gun where he could get it if he wanted to use it.

Anyone breaking in would get a lead surprise if he had his say about it.

McNulty hated to think he was acting out of paranoia. He put it down to being on someone else's turf. He hoped that he could get his sleep, deal with the ring, and head back to Baltimore without problems.

The guy following him said there was going to be trouble one way, or the other. He hadn't backed down from the dangerous lowlifes filling his city's streets. He wasn't going to run from some backwoods loon.

He admitted that being cautious was better than not in this situation.

McNulty closed his eyes and drifted off. Some time later, he heard his door open. He snapped awake and reached for his gun. He doubted it was the maid with fresh towels. He waited for the next move.

He realized he should have rigged a fake body in the bed. Now they were wondering where he was, and how he had got there without his car.

What would they do when they didn't see him sleeping in the bed? What would be their next move?

He decided to ask them. That was the quickest way to get answers in his experience. Since he didn't have a badge, he didn't have to worry about citizen complaints. He just had to be gone before the cops showed up.

He smiled in the dark. Maybe he could get some of his expense money back when this interview was over.

McNulty climbed out of the tub, grabbing his gun. He walked to the door. He looked out in the bedroom. Two guys were contemplating the empty bed. He shook his head, and reached for the light. He flipped the light switch with one hand. Everyone had to adjust to the sudden light, but he was on his own so anyone he shot blind had to deal with it.

"How's it going, guys?" McNulty blinked the blindness away. "How about sitting down and having a talk with me?"

"Screw you." One of the strangers glared at the ex-cop. "We got nothing to say."

"That's too bad." McNulty walked around to the hotel phone. "I'll have to report your dead bodies and having to shoot you in self-defense and all that. I think I can get away with being afraid for my life."

"My cousin is the sheriff." The spokesman growled. "He will make you pay if you do anything to me."

"That's good to know." McNulty smiled. "That just means that I will have to get rid of you when we're done with our talk."

"Look, we're sorry." The other man finally spoke up. "We just wanted to know what you want with Donna Ellis. She's the Sheriff's girlfriend."

"Does she know that?" The ex-detective smiled even more. "You guys know she set her last boyfriend on fire, right?"

"That's not our problem." The spokesman overrode his companion. "What do you want with her?"

"We're pen pals, so I thought I would visit since I was out this way." The lie felt good for some reason. He doubted the sheriff was getting his way if the woman matched up with the rap sheet. "I hadn't planned to stay, but I might now that I know that old Donna has a dumb boyfriend."

"We want you to move on and stay out of town." The spokesman put everything in stark relief. He stepped forward against the pointing of the pistol. "Go ahead and shoot. You won't make it out of town if you do."

"What makes you think that?" McNulty smiled. "I used to kill guys like you all the time. All I need is some drugs, whatever weapons you might have, and your car. It always looks like a buy gone bad."

"My cousin won't believe that for a second." The spokesman glanced at his comrade.

"It won't matter." McNulty stopped smiling. "We're over the county line and he won't be investigating."

"He'll know it was you." The cousin looked desperate now.

"So?" McNulty shrugged. "I'll be on the way back home tomorrow. I'll be out of the state before they can identify either one of you."

"Do you really think you can get away with killing both of us?" The second man had his hands down. At least he wasn't reaching for anything yet.

"Sure." McNulty laughed. "Take off your clothes."

"I'm not doing that." The cousin shook his head. "Shoot me."

"I don't think so." The second man stepped backward. "I don't see any point in that."

"If you guys want to live, take off your clothes." McNulty shook his head. "If you guys want to die, keep thinking that you will be able to draw whatever you got before I pull the trigger on you. Which is it going to be because I don't want to have you people in my room the whole night?"

The cousin went for the hogleg concealed under the jacket he wore. He was a big guy with a small tub of fat around his middle. His weapon of choice was similarly big. It was a bad move on his part.

McNulty already had his weapon out and aimed. His reflexes might not have been the fastest, but all he had to do was pull the trigger. The cousin had to pull his weapon, pull it on target, then fire. The fatter man just wasn't fast enough to beat his target.

"If you want some of this, keep reaching for whatever you got." McNulty almost smiled. "Two dead guys are just as good as one."

The smaller man raised his hands. He turned around and put them over his head. It seemed to be something he had done a few times.

"I'm going to call the cops and report this." McNulty reached for the phone. "I don't know what's going on here, and I don't want to know. Once I'm done with my job, I'm going home. If I see you again, we're going to have a problem."

"What do I tell the Sheriff?" The smaller man indicated the bleeding cousin on the bed.

"Tell him if his cousin was smarter, he wouldn't have got hurt." McNulty picked up the phone and called for an ambulance first, then the police. The big guy might live if they got to the hotel fast enough.

McNulty hung up after assuring the locals he wasn't going anywhere.

"Looks like we wait." McNulty sat down in the only chair in the room. "You want to tell me why the sheriff cares about some woman who doesn't care about him."

"I don't know anything about that." The burglar shrugged. "It was his idea to come and scare you off for his cousin."

"So the Sheriff is really jealous." McNulty shook his head. "That's no way to keep a woman."

"Not my problem." The smaller man shrugged again. "I just hang out with Junior. What his cousin does is not my problem unless he makes it my problem."

"What will the Sheriff do now?" McNulty scratched his eyebrow with a thumb.

"Probably kill you." He shrugged. "Shot while trying to escape is a good one."

"I'm going to have to talk to Sear about hazard pay." The ex-detective glanced at the window. Red and blue lights flashed outside. "It looks like our rides are here."

"You better hope you can get out of town quick." The sideman looked over his shoulder. "The Sheriff will be all over you for this."

"It is what it is." McNulty smiled. "I used to be a cop. I know how the crooked line goes."

"Good luck, yankee." The sidekick shrugged again.

A knock sounded on the door. McNulty walked over and put his gun in his coat pocket. He opened the door for deputies and paramedics. The medical workers got to work immediately on helping the fat man.

"If it isn't Myron Grant." The older deputy shook his shaved head. "You're a little ways from Paradise, Myron. You still carrying that old Beretta?"

"Yes, Hank." Grant carefully reached behind him and pulled it out of his waistband. He dropped it on the bed.

Hank's partner put the cuffs on, and put the pistol in a bag with a kleenex. He frowned at Grant.

"Mr. McNulty?" Hank gestured for the out-of-towner to step outside so the medics could do what they could. "The sheriff is going to want to talk to you about this. Can you wait over in the lobby until he gets here?"

"Sure." McNulty scratched his eyebrow with his thumb. "I'm good."

6

Sheriff Sam Des Grieux ambled into the lobby of the hotel after pausing to talk to his deputies outside. He smiled at McNulty as he settled into a chair opposite the ex-detective. His blue eyes gleamed with merriment.

"Hank says you shot Junior Cudd." Des Grieux pulled out his pad. "How did that happen?"

"Cudd the fat guy?" McNulty sat relaxed in his chair. He had done the waiting game a long time, and he was prepared to carry on waiting if he had to do that.

"That's right." Des Grieux nodded.

"I was in the bathroom, and when I came out, I caught these two guys in my room." McNulty didn't mention that they had followed him around town all day until he found this place and checked in. "We were talking, and then he pulls out that Dirty Harry special, so I let him have one."

"Did he tell you he was related to the Sheriff of Paradise County?" The sheriff wrote down some relevant facts in his pad.

"That's you, right?" McNulty regretted giving up his gun then.

"Nah." Des Grieux shook his head. "You crossed the county line down the road. You're in Brogan County. Merv Cudd runs Paradise. He's likely to be a little upset that you shot his cousin."

"The other guy seemed to be a lot smarter than Cudd." McNulty tried not to think about someone wanting him dead to inflate his ego. "What's his story?"

"Myron Grant is Cudd's minder." The Sheriff smiled. "He tries to keep Junior out of trouble. Looks like he should have tried harder tonight."

"Sounds like he's the smarter of the two." McNulty smiled. "So did they say why they broke in my room?"

"No." Des Grieux put his pad away. "They refuse to cooperate. They want lawyers and to take the fifth."

"Do you know a Donna Ellis?" McNulty decided to find out what he could about the woman. Her rap sheet and Sheriff Cudd was not making him feel welcomed to town.

"Yep." Des Grieux nodded. "She's on welfare and stays to herself as much as possible. The rumor is Cudd infracted her car until it was impounded so she couldn't leave Paradise."

"Does he know she set one of her boyfriends on fire?" McNulty scratched his right eyebrow. "I doubt she would let him get near if she didn't like him."

"She doesn't let him near." Des Grieux made a shrugging motion. "He harasses her with penny ante stuff, but she always goes to court and gets it dismissed."

"So Cudd wouldn't like it if she were to leave town." McNulty smiled. "He's worked so hard to keep her penned in."

"What's your dealings with her?" The sheriff saw the way the wind blew. He didn't know if he wanted trouble to cross the county line.

"A guy in Baltimore wanted me to deliver a ring to Donna Ellis." McNulty leaned forward, hooking his fingers together. "She's the next of kin is what I was told. So I came out here and started looking for her address so I could get done and head home. Now it looks like I have to look out for more trouble."

"Cudd is going to hear the story from his cousin." Des Grieux shrugged again. "There's nothing I can do about that."

"Don't worry." McNulty shrugged himself. "I just have to give her the property and leave town. He'll be happy to have his stalking victim to himself again when I am gone."

"Do you really think it's going to be that easy?" The sheriff smiled.

"Not really." McNulty looked at the window. "I expect he will be mad as soon as he knows that his cousin is in the hospital."

"Get your business done as soon as you can." Des Grieux stood. "Tonight would be best since Junior and Myron are going to the hospital and the jail. There's no telling how long it will be before they can get a phone to tell Cudd what happened."

"Thanks, Sheriff Des Grieux." McNulty stood. "I had hoped to do this in the daytime, but you're right. Cudd will want to know what I am doing, and what I have for her."

"He'd want it as leverage." The sheriff nodded. "If he gets it, he will try to hold it over her like the rest of the stuff he's done."

"Don't worry." McNulty smiled as he walked toward the exit. "He won't get it from me."

"Cause if he does, no one will know what happened to you." The lawman waved at his deputies as he followed McNulty out in the parking lot. They rolled away with Myron in the backseat.

McNulty decided he was going to get the job done and leave Texas before the sun came up. He was not going to let some redneck drop him somewhere to rot until there was nothing left but his bones.

The area he had driven through to get to Paradise had plenty of dump sites from what he had seen. Bones could stay buried forever among trees and brush. Only animals would find his skeleton.

He didn't plan to let that happen.

McNulty made sure his belongings were packed in the car before he got in. He pulled out of the lot and headed back to Paradise. He wondered if someone would stop him when they noticed his Maryland plates. Maybe smarter people would leave him alone since he was from out of town.

He wondered who he would have to shoot next. Cudd wasn't likely to let things go when he found out what had happened.

McNulty wondered if Donna Ellis wanted to get out of Paradise and start over somewhere else. He doubted that her troubles would end if she left town.

Cudd would come up with some legal way to bring her back and keep her in place. He might be able to swear that she fled from false charges.

Sheriffs were big fish in their small ponds. He might be able to get any number of charges passed to get her back and she would be stuck in the same mess as she had been before she had left, only worse now that she had tried to leave.

She needed a new identity and a place to stay where Cudd wouldn't look for her.

Maybe McNulty could arrange something for her through Bunk. The detective might know someone who could lend a hand. A new name would foil Cudd for a while. He might discover it through some hard work, but as long as Bunk and his contact said nothing, it wouldn't give him reason to come to Baltimore.

Would she take the offered hand, or would she want to stay and fight it out with the sheriff? He certainly seemed to like to keep her penned up where no one could talk to her without some trouble.

How much of the town was in on the Sheriff's deal. If all of his ran over the rest of the town, it would explain the surly looks from the afternoon.

McNulty hoped his plan was feasible. He didn't want to be a pile of bones at a crime scene.

Bee would kill him if that happened.

He smiled as he traced his route back to the woman's house. The only thing he saw getting in his way was some deputy questioning his authority.

That and Donna's inability to move if she had to do it. Some people cracked under being on a virtual theater.

Getting her across the county line wouldn't be enough. He would have to carry her over the state line and flee north as if something horrible was right on their trail.

McNulty thought a plane, or some other public transportation, was out of reach. Cudd could shut down the airport, or other networks, on the claim he had some kind of threat to that particular area.

And his car would be the first thing on an APB as soon as the sheriff knew that his girlfriend had left with another man.

He had to think of something that would keep him ahead of the game, and get them to Baltimore without Cudd stopping them. Then they could fight any charges he might try to levy to get his way.

And he would try to prove some crime so he could force extradition from Maryland to Texas.

McNulty pulled up in front of the woman's house. If he was smart, he would hand over the ring and leave. The rest of this was really not any of his business.

He got out of the car and looked around. He didn't see any cars that might be a threat. How many people were calling about him going up her stairs and knocking on the door? Would she want to get away from all this, or was she hooked on the sheriff too?

Would she try to set him on fire too?

He decided that he had already gone too far to turn around now.

"Who is it?" The voice sounded bitter and old to McNulty. She was supposed to be young.

Maybe she had gotten into Meth.

"My name is Jimmy McNulty." He watched the street. "I'm here to give you something from your next of kin."

The door opened slowly.

7

"I don't have any next of kin." Suspicious eyes shaded by unruly hair looked at McNulty. "I don't have any family."

"I have a note and a ring to give you." McNulty pulled out the envelope. "The Coroner's Office asked me to deliver this to you. I need you to sign for it so I can drive back to Baltimore."

She took the envelope and opened it. She read the contents of the letter, and stared at the ring.

"What happened?" She looked at McNulty.

"I've got no idea." The former detective spread his hands. "Doc Sear paid me to track you down and deliver the ring. I don't know anything else. I can give you the number and you can call him."

"Are you going back to Baltimore?" Donna slipped the ring on her finger. She clutched her hand around it.

"Yes." McNulty already knew what she was going to ask. He would do the same if someone handed him a way out of a bad situation.

And he imagined things couldn't get any worse than what they were for her now.

"Give me a lift across the county line, please." She turned from the door. "I have to get out of here."

"Sure." McNulty wondered if he was doing the right thing. He decided if someone was penning him in, he would get out of it by any means possible.

"Let me get some things." She shut the door in his face. She returned a minute later, backpack in hand, shrugging on a jacket. "Let's get out of here before Cudd shows up."

"The Sheriff?" McNulty took the bag so she could pull on her jacket easier. He gave it back when she was done.

"You heard about him?" Donna paused with bag in hand.

"I talked to his cousin and his cousin's minder." McNulty walked to his car. "The cousin didn't seem too bright."

"That idiot tried to warn you off?" Donna started walking again. "Did you tell him about the ring?"

"No." McNulty shook his head. "It wasn't any of their business."

"Good." Donna opened the passenger door and got in McNulty's car. "The idiot would try to take it for leverage."

"He's going to have problems doing that now." McNulty got behind the wheel. "His cousin might be able to get him out of the other county's jail if he makes a deal. I don't know if Des Grieux will go for that."

"That doesn't matter." Donna looked down at the ring. "Cudd will try to put pressure on Des Grieux to release Junior and his buddy. Talk about Abbot and Costello. Those two are Cudd's enforcers. His deputies follow orders, but they won't go over the line, but Junior doesn't care. He's untouchable."

Jimmy smiled in the dark as he backed out on the road.

"What are you smiling about?" Donna frowned at his expression. "We have to get out of here before Cudd starts hassling us."

"He's going to have to hassle us without Junior for a while." McNulty headed for the main road.

"What did you do, McNulty?" Donna glared at him.

"I caught two guys breaking into my hotel room." Jimmy kept his car under the speed limit. "One of them got shot. That's what happens when you don't listen to someone holding a gun."

"Cudd won't forgive that." Donna slammed her hand on the dashboard. "If he catches us, he will hurt you. This guy loves beating people."

"Hopefully he won't catch us." McNulty smiled. "As soon as we're out of state, we're done with him."

"No." Donna shook her head. "He will swear out a warrant for me on some trumped up charge and then they'll drag me back here."

"I know a guy who can give you a new identity." The ex-detective kept an eye on the mirror as he drove. It was only a few miles to the line. After that, they were on Des Grieux's turf.

How far would Cudd go in another jurisdiction?

"Really?" She looked at him. Disbelief and scorn didn't hide on her face. "Cudd has access to that."

"Not to these." McNulty smiled back. "The only way he would have access is to find my guy and torture him. Since he doesn't know the same people I do, I doubt he could successfully do that."

"Cudd is a monster, McNulty." She looked at the road ahead. "You don't know what he's capable of doing."

"I've dealt with some monsters in my time." McNulty frowned at blue lights coming up behind him. "We might have some trouble coming."

"What do they want?" Donna looked over her shoulder. "Punch it. We don't want them catching us."

"We're not going to outrun them in this." McNulty pulled over, watching the mirror. "Let's see if we can bluff our way out of this first."

"We won't be able to talk our way out of this, McNulty." She kept her eyes on the back window. "Crap. It's Cudd, and not a deputy."

"Fat runs in the family, I guess." McNulty cut the motor off. "Let's see what he has to say."

"This is a bad idea." Donna slammed her hand on the dashboard. "This guy is nothing but bad news."

"Calm down." McNulty smiled at her. "Things will be all right."

"You in the car, put your hands out the window so I can see them." Cudd cast a large shadow in the headlights of his car. His hand gripped the butt of his revolver. "Use one hand to open the door and exit the car."

"Get ready." McNulty opened the door with his foot. He stepped out with his hands up. "Something wrong, officer?"

"This car is on a bulletin as being stolen." Cudd walked forward with his gun leading the way. "Turn around and put your hands on the roof of the car. I'm taking you in."

"This is my car, sir." McNulty smiled. "I have my registration and license right here."

"Put your hands on the roof of the car." Cudd walked closer. "I will shoot you if you don't."

McNulty put his hands on the roof of the car. There was no getting out of this by talking. He would have to commit a felony and hope to get away with it.

The car started. He stepped back. It drove off. He saw Donna glance back as she headed for the county line.

"It's stolen now, dummy." McNulty shook his head. "Smooth move, Ex-lax."

"Shut up!" Cudd stepped forward, pointing the revolver at McNulty's face. "Shut up!"

McNulty grabbed the barrel and pointed the gun away from his body. He drove his elbow into the man's neck. That got him the gun. He reversed it in his hand and brought it down on the Sheriff's head.

"Idiot." McNulty brought the gun down again. "Why are you chasing a woman who set her last boyfriend on fire? She doesn't like you. Find someone else, jackass. There are other fish in the sea."

McNulty rolled the Sheriff over and put cuffs on him. He rolled him off the road after making sure his radio and phone were off and thrown somewhere in the dark. One of his deputies would find him in the morning.

He doubted the Sheriff would take the advice. He seemed fixated. McNulty hoped he didn't have to shoot the guy when things were said and done.

He just wanted to go back to Baltimore and put this domestic dispute behind him.

He definitely was going to talk to Sear about this. He was only supposed to hand over a property, not have his car stolen from him.

He should have seen that happening. After all, she was afraid of Cudd. She wouldn't want to be dragged back to the jail after nearly getting free of him.

McNulty walked over to the patrol car. He had to get his car back now. Since he had assaulted the Sheriff, he might as well steal the man's car. Two felonies did not a right make, but he had to catch up if he wanted to extract himself from this mess.

He cut off the blue lights and rolled forward. Donna would never stop if she thought he was the Sheriff. She still might keep rolling when she saw the patrol car behind her. He needed to catch up with her and convince her to pull over before she did something even more stupid than running from her erstwhile boyfriend.

Now they were both felons in a county that could take steps to make them disappear if they were caught.

He had no doubt that Cudd would want to get back at him for beating him and leaving him in the grass on the side of the road. And Donna would be back in the bad position that she had been before he had arrived.

He asked himself what did he do but he knew his interference had upset the balance between them.

He smiled. It was the same old McNulty luck. The best he could do was get out of town and dump the Sheriff's car somewhere and take the bus back to Baltimore.

First he wanted to try to get his car back from Donna.

8

McNulty pulled over when he saw his car off the road. He got out of the stolen patrol car. The only thing he could think of was a long string of profanity. He clenched his teeth so he didn't say any of it out loud.

How did she wreck his car like this? No one was chasing her. She was only a few minutes from the county line. He took a breath to steady his nerves before he went down to look for her.

He should have known she would take off. She wanted to leave Paradise, and had already been in trouble with Sheriff Cudd and more honest coppers. Stealing a car while the owner was detained by her stalker wouldn't have been much of a big step in her criminal career.

Too bad she seemed to have wrecked making her getaway.

"Donna?" McNulty cupped his hands to make his voice louder. "Donna Ellis? Can you hear me, Donna? It's Jimmy McNulty."

He walked down to inspect the car. He made sure to take the keys to the patrol car in case she was waiting for an opening to take that car too.

Didn't Cudd see that she would kill him if he tried to press any advantage on her. He was surprised she hadn't already.

"Donna?" McNulty walked around the car. The front had taken a hit, crushing it in. He would need a wrecker to get it on the road, and a shop to get it moving. Maybe the sheriff had been right in taking her own car away from her.

He found her passed out under some bushes. A streak of blood marred her chin. He shook his head as he got out a napkin and dabbed the blood. He hoped she didn't have a head injury.

Of course she would have hurt herself trying to cross the county line in a stolen car. What did he do now? He couldn't show up to the emergency room entrance in the Sheriff's personal conveyance. More questions would be asked than he could reasonably answer. And they would expect a visit from the law to help with those answers.

Cudd would want her to come back so he could smooth things down with her while keeping her prisoner in her own home, or his.

He couldn't let that happen. It would be better if she died while he was trying to get her to the hospital.

He checked her head the best he could. There might be some kind of swelling under her skin but she seemed all right under the blood on her chin. He decided they had to get out of there before someone called the law on them.

He didn't need any more complications while he was trying to get out of the one he was already trying to fix.

Bunk would be chiding him for not leaving her with the captured Chief.

He didn't need any more blood on his hands than what he had.

And if she died, he knew the sheriff would try to have him executed legally.

McNulty went to the wreck and pulled out his belongings and everything out of the glovebox. He wondered if Sear would compensate him for a car. He decided not to press his luck in that regard before he got back to Baltimore. He put the bag in the sheriff's car.

He went back and gathered the woman up. He hoped he wasn't hurting her more by moving her than it would have been just leaving her there for anyone to find. He couldn't leave her behind. That would cause him a separate set of problems.

He made room for her in the backseat and laid her out. He pushed her feet out of the way so he could shut the door. He got behind the wheel. They would know who he was now. There was nothing he could do about it. He pulled away from the side of the road and headed for the county line.

He would have to ask somebody else to pick up the car. He couldn't go back for it once he was out of the county. He was driving a stolen car, and didn't want to get popped for it. He had to get rid of the patrol car before the Sheriff was found.

He didn't expect to walk away from an arrest from the Paradise County Sheriff's Department. They would want to inflict some rough justice on him for taking their beloved Sheriff down. He probably wouldn't make it to trial.

The Sheriff had already waved a gun in his face when he thought he had the upper hand. What would he do if he did get the upper hand?

McNulty didn't want to hang around long enough to find out.

What did he do about Donna? He had to get her examined and get her out of a hospital before an alert could be issued.

Cudd would send out something as soon as he found McNulty's car.

How far could he reach after what had happened so far? McNulty didn't want to find out. He just wanted to get back to Baltimore and let someone else worry about Cudd.

Of course he would have to fight extradition back to Texas. No way was he going to let Cudd get a grip on him after escaping his jurisdiction.

The radio crackled to life. Police code told him that the Sheriff's Department was looking for them. He had to do something about the car. He had to bury the car somewhere.

How did he get across the line without it? The deputies would be covering the line to try and stop him from leaving the county.

He needed to switch cars, but he didn't know where he could get another car.

He decided to pull off the road to think. He needed another car and he had to get across the line without being stopped. The radio already told him he was in a closing vice. Eventually they would see his car sitting under the tree and approach him.

What did he do now?

How did he get his car reimbursed by Doc Sear without having to come back to this pit?

McNulty got out of the car. At least Donna was still alive despite the bump on the head that was bruising up. He still had to get her to a hospital somewhere.

The situation was bad no matter how he looked at it. Even if he crossed the county line, he could still face charges for beating the Sheriff senseless.

If Donna hadn't wrecked his car, he could have just got back in and driven that car away without having to worry about getting stopped for having a stolen car. Too bad she didn't have a car they could use.

Inspiration so crazy that it might just work struck and he knew what he had to do if he could get back to town.

It would throw them off a little if they did find the Sheriff's car. He just couldn't be in it when they did find it.

He hoped this was exactly what he needed to get out trouble, and out of the county.

And at very least he could deny stealing the patrol car if he could switch it for another vehicle before he was caught. He hoped he wasn't setting himself up to be hanged.

The first thing he needed to know was where the impound lot happened to be. Once he knew that, and how to get there, he could plan accordingly.

The real challenge would be getting the other car out of the lot without too many problems. He could leave Cudd's car out front.

After he did that, he would have to drive far away from Paradise County and the state of Texas.

He racked his brain for an explanation he could give Bee about this, but found it dwelling too much on how he was going to live the next few days with the law after him.

He had no idea how he was going to fight any charges Cudd might level against him. The only thing he could do was hire a lawyer and refuse extradition if that was possible.

There was no way he would survive a trial in Paradise County. The sheriff would try to shoot him while escaping. That was obvious from the way he had conducted his traffic stop.

McNulty pulled out his phone. He needed to call Sear and at least tell him what had happened. Maybe the doc knew a good lawyer.

He pressed the Internet icon first. He called up the information on the impound lot. He smiled when he got directions right to the lot. He started the car. It was time to get out of Dodge.

He hoped Donna didn't do anything else stupid. He couldn't get them out of there if she kept running away when he needed her to stay still.

McNulty hoped she would do better the next time they had to deal with the Sheriff.

He drove into town, and found the Sheriff's Department fast enough. He found the impound lot right next to the brick building. It was a simple fence around a section of parking lot. There wasn't a guard shack, or guard, as far as he could see.

And he had the keys thanks to Cudd.

That was the only piece of good luck he could think of at the moment. If no one showed up to stop him, that would be another.

McNulty drove up to the gate in the fence. He got out with the Sheriff's keys and unlocked the padlock from the chain holding the gates closed. He drove in and parked the patrol car behind a big truck. He wondered which car was Donna's.

He had to risk turning on the car's computer to run a record check for Donna's car. Then they would have to switch cars and get out of there as fast as they could.

There was a small chance that they didn't have a monitor built into their computers to give the headquarters a location. He had to hope that, or he didn't have a way to find the car without asking one of the deputies for the information.

He didn't think that would go over well if they were afraid of their boss.

He opened the screen. He smiled when the police information came up without asking for a password. He typed in Donna Ellis. Her car information zipped out a second later. He looked around the lot until he spotted a candidate.

He shut the computer down. He got out of the car. He searched Donna for her keys. No car key on the ring. He walked over to the car. The keys were inside of it. The doors were locked. He went back to the patrol car and searched it. He found a slimjim in the trunk. He slid that down inside the door and pulled the lock. He put his things and Donna in the car. He locked Cudd's keys in his own car and drove out of the impound lot in Donna's car. He got out and locked the gate behind him.

He got back in the car and started for the county line.

9

McNulty hoped there would be no more trouble. He had put himself on the wrong side of the law with beating the sheriff and taking his car. His identity was already known thanks to Donna stealing his car and wrecking it. The best he could hope for was to leave town and duck any warrant and extradition papers back to Texas.

He didn't feel bad about leaving Cudd trussed up in that field. The man had tried to kill him. It was the least he could do instead of killing the man himself. It might have been better if he had killed the sheriff to avoid any problems in the future.

The man had shown himself to be a stalker with a badge, and an attempted murderer. There was no telling what other crimes he had committed behind the protection of his badge.

And McNulty would have him dogging them until they were clear of Texas. He didn't like that at all. How long did they have before Cudd thought of Donna's car and put out a bulletin for it? If that went out, other departments would drag him back to deal with Cudd any way he could.

A fair trial wouldn't be possible in Paradise as long as Cudd was around.

He refused to dwell on the problem. No one could help him as long as he was inside the county lines. So the best thing he could do was get across the line and go somewhere to call a lawyer. Then he could let someone fight the battle for him while he hid from extradition.

If Cudd controlled the local court, he couldn't count on a lawyer getting him free of the charges. The sheriff had decided to shoot him when he saw the car drive off. That wasn't a rational response to the situation.

And if shooting someone was the answer to the problem, then a trial was out of the question.

McNulty didn't like the implications of being a fugitive, but he couldn't deny he was in a pickle. He needed some way out of this without shooting the sheriff in question. He didn't want to kill someone for being stupid.

He just didn't see any way out of this mess unless Cudd was out of the picture. He didn't see any way out of that thanks to Donna driving off in his car and wrecking it.

If she had waited, he could have done something other than what he had done to protect himself. No way Cudd was dumb enough to have a dash cam recording the stop. That would have been evidence he could have used if it was there.

He couldn't go back to the impound lot to check it now that he was on his way. Either Cudd had recorded everything, or he hadn't because he had planned to commit a crime himself. He couldn't make sure at the moment.

He was caring when it wasn't his turn to care about the problem. He should have drove away instead of getting involved.

He should have known there was going to be trouble when Sear had approached him in the bar. He should have said no. Now he had to get across the county line, get across the state line, and avoid being sent back when he did get home.

At least if he could get the girl clear of the county, Cudd would have to track her down in her new home. If she was smart, that might take him years to do. He might lose his office if he spent too much time on his obsession.

McNulty drove carefully along the road. He didn't need a legitimate traffic stop to cause him problems now that he was on his way. He would try to get across the line without more trouble and then put the hammer down on the other side of the line.

How long did he have before Cudd got loose and spread the word about what had happened? He might already be loose.

He drove through town, hoping no one would see him and report him to the Sheriff's Department. He wanted to slide under the radar as long as he could.

He frowned at the gas gauge. It was low. He could stop at the gas station on the way out of town. It was a risk, but he needed the gas or he wasn't going anywhere.

And he didn't want to be on foot with the locals looking for him.

He pulled into the gas station and parked in front of the pump. The place was dark, but the pump had a card reader for credit. He ran his card and started fueling up. When he was done, he asked for a receipt. He would ask Cole for reimbursement.

He hung up the pump and got back in the car. He had to get going again. Standing still was out of the question now. He had to keep moving.

He started back down the road toward the hotel he had been staying at when the two lummoxes had tried to run him off. He couldn't stop there, but he could use it for a reference point until he was on the highway heading out of town.

He would have to get Donna looked at before too long. He didn't need her dying on the way to Baltimore. That would defeat the purpose of this running away.

Where could he find a doctor's office that would keep its mouth shut in Texas? Back home, he knew a few people he could go to off the books. Here, he was out of reach of anyone he could call for help.

He decided the best thing to do was try and reach an emergency room. If he could do that, he could at least get her looked at for the bump on her noggin.

He was afraid it was life threatening. What good would it do to give her the ring, and then lose her to a head knocking? Maybe someone there could help him with his problems with the law that he foresaw as soon as Cudd got loose from the cuffs.

He wondered if he should have shot Cudd. That would have solved some of their problems while giving him some more.

He crossed the county line without incident. It looked like Cudd hadn't been able to get out of the cuffs in time. Now all he had to do was find a hospital to get Donna checked out. He didn't want to lose time, but it had to be done.

He followed the road to the hotel he had used. The clerk should be able to tell him where the local hospital was located. Then he would take Donna by their emergency room.

It was the only solution he could see at the moment. They were still too close to Paradise for him to like it, but he didn't want Donna to die from a bump on her head. He would still have to deal with Cudd, and his wrecked car.

He doubted that would be a simple fix.

Cudd would be all over the car, checking its plate and vin. He would certainly send a warrant to Baltimore.

McNulty doubted there was anything Bunk, or Sear, could do to squash the coming warrant. He needed to get Donna patched up and out of the state as soon as possible. They probably should split up as soon as he got the doctor to look at her.

If no one knew where she had gone, then she could blend in with some careful planning. The first step she would have to take was get rid of her car and get something new. Cudd would use his connections to trace it as soon as he found out it was not in the impound.

Maybe he should have just shot the sheriff and claimed self-defense. That would have been better in hindsight. He might have had to stand for a trial, but he wouldn't have to worry about a stalker with a crush.

And he didn't have a weapon since the other sheriff took his pistol after he had shot the cousin.

Had the other guy been able to get out of jail already? How long did it take to post bail in Texas? That was another worry he would have to think about for the near future.

He had to avoid the little guy while having Donna looked at and trying to steer clear of the Sheriff. He grimaced at that consideration.

He needed to call someone and let them know what was going on. He needed some kind of backup plan to get Donna free of her stalker.

Maybe Bunk would have some kind of suggestion he could use to get some kind of advantage.

McNulty spotted the hotel. He pulled into a spot in front and went inside. He made sure to take the keys. He didn't want Donna waking up and trying to drive off while he was getting directions.

He didn't need another case of bad driving to dig them in deeper.

He found another clerk behind the desk. She seemed bored, disgruntled, and a little too into Jerry Springer. It went with her heavy weight and dyed hair.

"How's it going?" McNulty decided on a face that was serious but trying to be pleasant. "I was hoping you could give me some directions to a hospital."

She gave him a look. He knew he didn't look hurt enough to go to the hospital.

"Take a left out of the lot." She pointed down the road in the direction he had been traveling. "Go down toward the highway, there'll be a sign for Healyville. Directions to the hospital will be on a sign next to that."

"Thanks." McNulty smiled. "Have a good one."

"Uh-huh." The clerk didn't smile back at him.

McNulty walked back to the car and got behind the wheel. He turned out on the road and headed toward where the sign should be. He smiled when he saw the Healyville sign, and then the hospital sign beside it.

He turned on the highway and headed toward the hospital. He kept his eyes out for law enforcement as he drove. He didn't want to be stopped while in Donna's car. That would add another complication to everything.

He saw light in the distance. He pulled off the highway and turned to drive over the bridge over the interstate. He saw a lighted sign for the Cordell Walker Medical Center. He pulled into the lane marked for the Emergency Room.

He parked in a slot near the doors and carried Donna through the sliding doors.

"I need some help here." He looked around the room as a nurse came up to talk with him.

10

McNulty waited in the hall for the doctors and nurses to tell him something. Donna remained unconscious the whole time she was being treated. McNulty gave the admitting nurse the name of his mother to help give the woman cover.

Why make it easy for her stalker?

He briefly wondered how much time he had before the sheriff tracked them down. They needed to move out of Texas as fast as possible. Then they could worry about the rest of things.

Donna was going to need a new identity that no lawman could flag so she could remain free. The sheriff filing a warrant would be enough to get her sent back to Texas if she didn't have someone to fight extradition for her.

He hoped he didn't get into another confrontation with the sheriff. The man would be livid for being beaten up and left on the side of the road, but not so much that his prize captive had flown the coop. That would just be icing on the cake as far as he was concerned.

McNulty hoped things didn't get more complicated than they already were. The last thing he needed was another problem for what should have been a simple job. He needed to talk to the Doc about his assurances.

"Mr. McNulty?" A doctor in a white coat and scrubs approached in yellow plastic clogs. "I'm Dr. O'Hara. Your sister should be fine in a couple of days."

"What's wrong with her?" McNulty didn't think they had a couple of days before trouble caught up with them.

"She took a hit to the head." O'Hara shrugged. "She should start moving around on her own in a couple of hours, but she'll have to take it easy for the next few days."

"Can she travel?" McNulty hated to come across as unfeeling, but they couldn't stay this close to Paradise. That would invite trouble.

"Yes, but I wouldn't recommend it." The doctor checked his clipboard. "We're going to give her some prescriptions. Have her follow the directions on the bottles."

"Pharmacy?" asked McNulty.

"It's on the other side of the hospital," O'Hara said. He pointed in the general direction. "There are signs to show you the way. It won't be open until the morning. We'll keep your sister here to watch her, and then cut her loose if she keeps improving."

"So we're stuck here for the night." McNulty looked up at the ceiling. "Is it okay to talk to her?"

"Yes, but make it short." O'Hara nodded. "She probably won't be ready for anything long."

"Don't worry." McNulty entered the room and shut the door. Donna lay on the exam bed, covered by a sheet, hose plugged into her arm. Bruises colored her face purple.

"Messed up, didn't I?" Donna tried to smile.

"We're in Healyville, I told them you were my sister and gave a false name for you." McNulty hoped Donna hadn't said anything to disprove his claims. "The doc says you have to stay in here overnight. After that, we should go."

"All right." Donna barely moved her head in acknowledgment. "I think I already told them I had a car accident. I don't know if I gave them a name."

"As soon as you get settled, I am going to call Doc Sear and see if he can arrange a spot for you in Baltimore while I try to get your new identity in place." McNulty checked his watch. He was an hour, maybe two, ahead of the East Coast. "Keep an eye out. We're still close to Paradise. The sheriff will start asking around about you if he's out of the cuffs."

"I'm sorry." Donna looked at the wall. "I didn't think you would beat him. That's why I ran."

"No problem." McNulty knew that it was a big problem. Once they checked the vehicle out, they would know everything about him.

He would have to ask Sear to try to establish a cover for that too. He didn't need to punch the sheriff again now that he was trying to get clear.

Maybe Sear could give him some kind of help from Baltimore. He needed clean plates on the car, a place to dump Donna when he got home, and some way to get her a new identity that law enforcement couldn't trace.

He had doubts that Cudd would give up after the beating he had already taken. He would try to take it out on Donna in some way.

At least the cousin was out of the way. That was one less thing to worry about. The deputies may, or may not, play along, but that stupid cousin would have tried to stay on him until one of them was shot.

A knock sounded on the door. A nurse poked her head in. She tried to smile at him, but failed.

"We have your room ready." The nurse came into the room. "An orderly is going to take you upstairs."

"That's fine," said Donna. "I'm ready to go."

"We'll take good care of her." The nurse smiled at McNulty. He tried to smile back. "She's due to be released tomorrow. The desk will give you her paperwork."

"Thanks a lot." The former detective had been enough emergency rooms to know how that worked.

He might have to smuggle her out of the hospital and get out of there. Cudd could be close by and looking for them. And he probably was not going to let either one leave this time.

Delivering personal property never seemed to be this bad in the fake cop shows. It was something he had never had happened to him either while he was on the job.

Who knew one hole with a badge could be almost as big a pain as he was?

McNulty stood out of the way as the orderly came in. He looked almost too big for his scrubs, and bigger than a man should be. He lifted Donna up as if she was as light as a feather, and placed her on the gurney.

"The paperwork said you were to go up to 514." The orderly gently strapped her in. "I'll take you over to the elevators, and we'll ride up to the floor."

"Thanks, Darrel." The nurse smiled at him. "You're in good hands, Miss McNulty. Darrel is the best."

"I'll take it easy." Darrel grabbed the bar at the boot of the gurney and pulled it toward the door. He opened the door and pulled the rolling bed through as much as he could. McNulty held the door so the orderly could finish pulling the accident victim out in the hall. He threaded his way through the emergency services area until they reached a bank of elevators tucked out of the way. He pushed the call button and stood back.

The elevator doors opened with a buzz. Two nurses got off. Darrel pulled Donna into the cab, then held the door for McNulty. He pushed the button for the fifth floor as the doors closed.

They rode up in silence. Darrel had seen too many people come to the hospital to worry about what they had done to get there. Donna felt like she was in a fog from the pain killers keeping her aches and pains in a manageable zone. McNulty wondered how he was going to explain all this to Sear.

He definitely was not going to get anything out of this to fix his abandoned car.

The doors opened to let them out. Darrel pulled the gurney out in the hall. He checked where he was before starting down the hall.

He pulled the gurney to a room in the corner where the hall turned left to circle around to the elevators. He pushed the door open to check the room before he rolled the bed in. He slid it next to the permanent bed in the room. He dropped the rail on the room's bed to make moving Donna to it easier.

"I'm going to switch the bag to this hook before I move you." Darrel pointed at the portable monitor next to the bed. "Then I'm going to shift you over. Okay?"

Donna nodded. She smiled briefly. She wouldn't be able to leave in the morning. McNulty could see it in the way she moved. She probably wouldn't be able to leave the day after.

This was bad if Cudd started looking for them. A bolo would turn up Donna's car in a few minutes after it was issued.

How did he get them out of the state without a car? How did he explain how his car was wrecked while he was taking down a sheriff of a Texan county? Was it too late to get a bottle of Scotch and empty it.

He needed to talk to the Doc and let him know what was going on. Someone needed to know in case he didn't make it.

Someone had to tell Bee why he wasn't coming home from this.

He pulled out his phone and stepped into the hall. Donna didn't need to hear him talking about their chances. Wrecking the car had been a big mistake on her part, but it had saved him from being shot on the side of the road.

They were still in too much trouble for him to put it down as a complete win.

"Hello." Sear was alert. That was good. That meant he only had to be told the story once.

"It's Jimmy, Doc." McNulty kept an eye on the hall in case familiar faces arrived. "I've hit a bit of a snag."

"What kind of snag, Jimmy?" Sear's voice spoke volumes on why they shouldn't be talking, and Jimmy should be on an airplane back to Baltimore.

Jimmy took a moment to order his thoughts. It had been a busy day so far. There were lots of things that should be edited so he didn't look bad.

"Your girl is being stalked by the local law, who happened to try to prevent us from leaving, but she drove off with me on the side of the road about to get shot, and wrecked my car." Jimmy thought that was a good assessment so far. "I knocked the sheriff out, took his car, stole her car from the impound, found her on the side of the road, and I just brought her here to the local hospital. I don't know if I can travel with her now. If the sheriff was able to get loose, he's probably got an all points out on us right now."

"That's pretty horrible, Jimmy," said Sear. "I'll call you back in an hour."

He hung up on McNulty.

11

Nurse Molly Shavers picked up the phone on the desk of the nurse's station. She frowned at the thought she wasn't doing the right thing. She decided that the least she could do was call her husband. He could decide what to do with the news.

Nurse Shavers waited for someone to pick up the phone. She scanned the hall. She didn't need any trouble coming back to her. She hoped her husband had enough sense to look out for himself, and hide somewhere until things blew over.

"Hello?," said her husband, Joe. He sounded sleepy to her ear. "What's up?"

"Donna Ellis is here," said Nurse Shavers. "Some guy is here passing her off as his sister."

"I'll call down to the office," said Joe. "The sheriff will want to know about this."

"Stay out of it, Joe," said Nurse Shavers. "Cudd is nothing but trouble. I just called so you know that Donna is finally getting away from that fat crazy man. That way when someone asks you can say you don't know what's going on."

"Hang up," said Joe. "Don't say anything to Donna."

Joe Shavers put his home phone on its charging base. He frowned at the news his wife had told him. What did he do about it?

The first thing he should do was check to see if Merv was at the office, or home. Then he could try to break the news that Merv's fixation was moving away from him at full speed.

Joe didn't know if that was bad, or good. He just knew that Cudd would be unhappy.

He picked up the phone and called the office. Wayne should be on duty. Once he knew about where Merv was, he could think of his next move.

He didn't want Merv going off half-cocked, but he knew he couldn't control the man without hurting him.

"Paradise Sheriff's Office," said Wayne. He sounded bored over the phone. "What is the nature of your problem?"

"Is Merv there, Wayne?," asked Joe. He waited for the man's slow response with tapping fingers on the arm of his couch.

"Nope," said Wayne. "I don't see his cruiser in the lot either."

Joe wondered where Merv was. He didn't stay out patrolling if he didn't have to do it. Why would he be on the road?

Joe frowned. Where was his cruiser now?

Merv had outfitted the cruisers with laptops with GPS built in. He used it to keep an eye on his deputies. He had caught a couple of his men shacking up with ladies of the evening instead of out patrolling. After that, he wanted to know where they were all the time.

"Wayne, check where Merv is," said Joe. He knew the deputy could get into the spy software from the office. "I need to find him."

"All right, Joe," said Wayne. "Give me a second."

Joe waited impatiently for the other deputy to come back to the phone. Not knowing where Merv was bothered him. He didn't like that his boss was unpredictable and had to be kept from doing something stupid.

"His car is at the impound," said Wayne. "That's odd."

"What's odd?," said Joe.

"It's been there for hours," said Wayne. "I have never seen him sit still that long away from the diner."

"Where else has the car been?," asked Joe.

"It was halfway to Healeyville on the Old Jordan Road, then it went to the impound and has been there for a while," said Wayne.

"All right," said Joe. He hung up. There was something strange in the sheriff's car sitting in on one place. What was he doing at the impound lot?

Joe stood up. He grabbed his jacket as he walked to the door. He sighed. Why was his boss such a pain?

Joe walked out to his pickup. He decided to drive to the impound lot. He had to make sure Cudd wasn't doing something stupid that might backfire on the whole department.

He headed out on the road. What was Merv doing? Why had he paused out on the road and come back to town? What was going on?

How had Donna got out of the town? Who was with her? Had she got her car out of the impound? Is that why Merv was down there?

Joe pulled to a stop outside the lot. Most people lost their cars temporarily because of fines from tickets, or parking in the wrong place. He pulled a flashlight and a back-up pistol from his glove box before he got out of the truck.

He shone the light across the area. He spotted Merv's cruiser instantly. He didn't see the sheriff. The gates were locked. He opened them and walked into the lot. He played the light around. He didn't see the big man, or the angry woman. He didn't see her car.

Joe wondered if that was why Merv had driven halfway down the road out of town. Had he been chasing the girl again? That lunkhead never learned.

He had been in charge for too long. He thought he could do anything he wanted. He should know better than this.

Joe decided to check on the last position of the car. Maybe there was some clue there to what had happened. If Merv was in trouble, he needed to do something to bail him out.

He hoped the sheriff was finally done with Donna Ellis. She clearly hated his guts. And he had become a stalker to keep her in the county. He could do better than that.

Joe decided Merv could be better about taking no for an answer.

He drove out to the other place Wayne had told him about and pulled off the side of the road. He got out of his car and waved his flashlight around to see anything that might be important.

"Who's there?," yelled someone in the grass. Joe knew who that was before he trained the flashlight beam on his boss.

"What's going on, Merv?," Joe asked. He waved the beam around to look for anyone else that might be lying around.

"Get me out these cuffs, Joe," said Merv. "This guy took me by surprise and stole my car."

"It's back in town," said Joe.

"My car?," said the sheriff.

"Yep," said Joe. He went back and got his keys from his car. He walked over and used his handcuff key on the manacles on Cudd's wrists. "It's at the impound lot."

"That guy," said Merv. He pushed himself up to his feet. The front of his uniform was covered with grass stains. "He took my gun and car."

"He didn't take your car far." Joe shined his light around. Glinting black in the grass turned into a radio mike and a phone. "I don't see your gun."

"He must still have it," said Merv.

"What happened, Merv?," asked Joe.

"There was car that had been on the hot list and I saw it," said Merv. Joe waited. He knew the first sentence was a lie. Mervin Cudd did not care about stolen property as long as it wasn't his. "I stopped it. I asked for the driver to get out. When he did, I got close to put cuffs on him, and he knocked me out. I came to just as he was pulling away in my car. His partner had already fled."

"What are you not telling me?," said Joe. He knew it was something. Merv looked away at the question. "Did you do something to Donna Ellis?"

"No, I didn't," said Merv. "I didn't."

"Then why is she in the hospital in Healeyville?," asked Joe.

"That guy must have had her in the car when I stopped him," said Merv.

"Let's be honest," said Joe. "You stopped the guy because he had Donna in the car. That's why you stopped him, and no other reason. You dummied up the stolen car and broadcast it out, didn't you?"

"You're crazy," said Cudd. "I wouldn't do that."

"If this guy goes to the Rangers, or the FBI, you're done, Merv," said Joe. "If he sues Paradise County over your stupid crush, the county will have your badge. Everybody knows what you've been doing. They've been letting it slide. If something happens to make them think you're even more useless than they already do, you might wind up in jail over this."

"What are you saying?," demanded Cudd.

"I'm saying you should let this go and hope it doesn't get worse than the guy reporting you for falsifying charges to the state, or federal government," said Joe. "You should quit while you're ahead."

"You think I'm going to let some guy get away with busting my face with my own gun?," said Cudd. "I don't think so. He's going to jail tonight."

"Leave it alone, Merv," said Joe. "He's across the line, and there's nothing you can do about it."

"There's something I can do," said Cudd. "Keys."

"I don't think so," said Joe.

Cudd tackled him to the ground. The sheriff wrestled the flashlight away from the smaller man and hit him on the head. He grabbed the keys and headed to the car.

He got behind the wheel and started the engine. He dropped the flashlight on the seat as he drove away from the scene.

No one was getting away with dumping him off the side of the road. He didn't care how many county lines he had to cross to get even.

Joe picked himself up and ran to the road. He looked up at the sky in a gesture known to all about realizing he had been dumb. He checked his pockets. He still had his phone. He had to do something about this before there was trouble at the hospital.

He couldn't let his wife walk into the storm that was coming without warning her.

He should have just put Cudd in the back of his vehicle and taken back into town to the jail and locked him in.

He hoped Cudd didn't look for the pistol in the glove box. That would raise the danger to an unacceptable level.

He called Molly's personal phone. He waited for her to pick up. She hated to be called at work, but an emergency mattered more than preference.

"Hello, Joe?," said Molly. "What's going on?"

"I rescued Merv from where he had been dumped by Donna's new boyfriend," said Joe. "He stole my truck and is heading for the hospital. I want you to stay out of his way."

"Oh, Joe, how could you?," said Molly. "This is beyond bad."

"I tried reasoning with him," said Joe. "I didn't think he would hit me in the head with my own flashlight."

"All right," said Molly. "I'll see what I can do from here."

"I'm going to call one of the guys and ask him to pick me up," said Joe. "I don't know how long that will take."

"Get here as soon as you can," said Molly. "I have to go."

12

Jimmy McNulty sat by the window. He was in a pickle. How did he get out of this? There was no way he could go back to Paradise. Cudd would try to hang him when he was out of his handcuffs.

It was only a matter of time before the guy was hounding them. He had the stubbornness of the sheriff from Smokey and the Bandit.

Donna needed a new identity and a means to get away from Texas. That would stop some of this. How did he stop the rest?

He might have to do something permanent to the sheriff just to get him off their backs.

He hadn't been much for the lines of the law, so he had done things to people worse than Cudd that he had no regrets about at this late date.

Doing something to Cudd looked like the only way out of this mess.

The prospect didn't bother him as much as it should have.

A knock came on the door. A nurse stuck her head in. She looked out in the hall before stepping inside the room and closing the door.

"What can I do for you?," said McNulty. He didn't think she was there to take blood, or check Donna's pressure.

"You two have to get out of the hospital," the nurse said. "Merv Cudd is on his way here."

"How do you know that?," asked McNulty. He smiled a little. Things were finally going his way.

"I told my husband that Donna was here, and the lunkhead told Cudd," said the nurse. "The two of you have to get out of here before he gets here."

"That was a bad move on your part," said McNulty. "Don't worry. I'll handle it. Do you have an empty room here?"

"We have one across the hall," said the nurse. "What are you going to do?"

"Nothing bad," said McNulty. "I'm going to put Donna in that room and let Cudd see this room is empty and hope he goes away."

"He'll try to tear the hospital apart looking for her," said the nurse. "He's totally hung up on her."

"We'll see about that," said McNulty. He smiled. "Thanks for the warning. Who's the local law?"

"Des Grieux is the sheriff," said the nurse. "He hates Cudd."

"I got that from dealing with him over Cudd's cousin," said McNulty. "Is he here?"

"No," said the nurse. "They have a doctor at the jail. If they need more than that, a prisoner is placed under guard and sent over. I haven't heard if Junior is here, and I would have."

"That makes things easier for us," said McNulty. "Let's move her to the other room. No one can know until after I deal with Cudd."

They placed Donna in a wheelchair scavenged from the hall. They wheeled her down the hall and put her in a bed in the other room. McNulty tucked her in. He checked his watch as he closed the door on the room.

"All we can do is wait for Cudd to show up," said McNulty. "You might want to call Des Grieux and let him know what's going on."

"Are you going to wait for Cudd?," asked the nurse. "That seems stupid."

"I've dealt with nimrods before this," said McNulty. "I worked for years as a Baltimore cop. I'm not about to let a big idiot like Cudd win."

"It depends on what Des Grieux says about all this," said the nurse. "He might take both of you in."

"As long as Donna gets to walk away, that's fine," said McNulty. "How long do you think we have before Cudd gets here?"

"I don't know," said the nurse. "A few minutes maybe."

"Call Des Grieux and tell him what's going on," said McNulty. "Tell him I'll have Cudd waiting on him when he gets here."

"Are all Yankee cops so confident?," asked the nurse.

"Only the best ones," said McNulty with a grin. "When Cudd shows up, just send him to Donna's old room."

"Are you sure you know what you're doing?," asked the nurse.

"One time, my partner and I busted a gang of dopers barricaded in a house," said McNulty. "They were a lot more dangerous than your sheriff."

"How many dopers?," asked the nurse.

"More than one," said McNulty with a grin. "Don't worry. I got this. Your husband won't even be involved the way things are going."

"Are you sure?," she asked. Her expression said she didn't believe him.

"If I don't make it, I want you to call Baltimore, and talk to Dr. Cole Sear," said McNulty. "He's a medical examiner. Tell him what happened. I want him to feel guilty about this for the rest of his life."

"I'll let him know that you died with your boots on," said the nurse. She retreated from the room.

McNulty watched television while he waited. He had been on a lot of stakeouts, and this was virtually the same thing. Cudd wasn't the first murderous stump he had put down.

The good thing about not working for the Pee Dee was not having to do the paperwork. The problem was Cudd was a sheriff. He couldn't expect to walk away after this was over. He could face prison in Texas for doing what he had to do.

Maybe he could argue mitigating circumstances at his trial. At least it wouldn't be held in Paradise. He couldn't count on anything fair there after the way they let this bully go after some woman living on her own.

He heard raised voices out in the hall. He stood. He might as well be on his feet when he met his current pain in the neck again.

Cudd burst into the room. He looked around. He looked out in the hall. He glared at McNulty standing in the center of the room. He opened the bathroom door. He pointed his stolen pistol at the barrier to his happiness with the woman he loved.

"Where is she?," Cudd demanded. "Where is Donna?"

"How many times do you have to be told?," said McNulty. "She is never going to like you, and you are better off chasing someone else."

"We were doing fine before you showed up," said Cudd. He waved Shaver's pistol at his rival. "You ruined everything between us."

"I was taking her back to Baltimore for a body claim," said McNulty. "I'm working for the Medical Examiner's Office. You interfered with another city's due process with your stupid stolen car stunt. I already reported you to the Feds. They're coming in from Dallas to talk to you."

"You're lying," said Cudd. "You did steal that car."

"It was my car," said McNulty. "You scared my witness enough to get her to make off with it instead of hanging around and dealing with your stupidity. I can't blame her now that I see what a moron you really are."

"Shut up!," shouted Cudd. "I'm not stupid. I know what I saw."

"You saw what your jealousy told you to see," said McNulty. "You don't have a relationship with Donna Ellis. You victimize her and she hates you for it. The only question in my mind is why hasn't she dealt with you like she did her former boyfriend. I guess it's because you're the law, instead of another scumbag. I think she should have taken her chances and set you on fire long before now."

"I told you to shut up!," said Cudd. He advanced on the ex-cop, anger on his face, gun shaking in his hand.

"That's the truth," said McNulty. "You're nothing to Donna Ellis but a hindrance and an emotional drain. You're a parasite that can't live without making other people miserable."

Cudd took another step forward. He held the pistol at head height. Once he pulled the trigger, he could claim anything he wanted. No one would say anything otherwise. They would all get behind him when he reported that he shot a kidnaper that had assaulted him.

So what if this guy claimed he worked for Baltimore. No one was going to believe him over a duly sworn officer of the law.

"You have any last words?," asked Cudd.

"You're going to jail," said McNulty. "I would take this time and head south instead of standing here."

"What makes you say that?," said Cudd. His finger started taking up slack on the trigger.

"Because Des Grieux will know this was murder," said McNulty. "He'll be an eyewitness at your trial. Does Texas still use the needle? I think they will for you."

"Slick Des Grieux ain't so slick," said Cudd. "He won't push on something like this. I can claim anything I want after you're dead."

"You think so?," said Des Grieux from the door. "If your turn around with that firearm still in your hand, we'll see what I'll push."

"Back out of here, Des Grieux," demanded Cudd. "I'll kill him if you don't."

"That don't make no never mind to me at all," said Des Grieux. "There's only two ways this is going to end for you, Mervin. You can put down that pistol and we'll talk this out. Maybe even get you across the line to your own county without a problem. Or you can turn around and see what you're really made of because we both know you can't shoot straighter or faster than me on my worst day."

"You heard the man, Mervin," said McNulty. "There's also a third option that the sheriff didn't tell you."

"What's that?," said the sheriff of Paradise County. He glared at his captive.

"I put you in the jail infirmary next to your cousin," said McNulty.

"What?," said Cudd. He thinned his lips as he started pulling the trigger on the stolen pistol.

McNulty grabbed the pistol and jerked it down between them.

The sheriff's finger squeezed the trigger. The bullet went into the top of his shoe. He didn't have time to cry out in pain before another bullet went into the other foot. He went down, but his pistol fell from his grip first and remained with the ex-cop.

"That's why you stand away from the guy you want to arrest," said McNulty. He tossed the pistol on the bed. "I hope you enjoy those holes in your feet."

"That was pretty slick if I say so myself," said Des Grieux. "Help me get him on the bed so the doctors can look at him. We're going to have to sort all this out before you head back to Baltimore."

McNulty took a breath. He smiled.

"I will be glad to go."

Epilogue

They held a meeting at the hospital three days later. McNulty had to attend with his lawyer, a local named Martin. Martin, a bluff guy in a dark suit and white beard and not enough hair on top, had helped negotiate everything with Healeyville's prosecutor, Jameson, Des Grieux, and Paradise's prosecutor, Hill.

McNulty had committed some illegal actions escaping from Mervin Cudd on the road. The fact that the Sheriff had threatened his life on camera had mitigated some of it. The fact Cudd had shown up at the hospital and tried to kill McNulty in front of a witness had cast the earlier stop in what could be considered a jealous fit.

That presented the two prosecutors with a quandary. They could prosecute both Cudd and McNulty for their crimes, but McNulty would definitely be able to sue Paradise County for liability for the Sheriff's own behavior. The town manager and the county commission did not want that to happen.

And storming the hospital had forced Jameson to take action against Cudd where they might have let him slide across the line and sent a fugitive back after the paperwork was filed. Now the Sheriff had committed a crime in another county and caused a disruption in the small ponds that neighbored each other.

And the fact that Cudd had harassed a helpless woman was being chased by the newspapers in counties around Paradise and making everyone involved look bad.

"I can't believe this," said Cudd from his hospital bed. His feet were wrapped up and sticking out from under the light blanket that came with the room. "This guy gets to walk?"

"This guy was hired to do a job for the city of Baltimore," said Hill, a tall guy with glasses and a slightly long buzzcut. "This guy was doing his job when you stopped him. This guy had already shot your cousin in self defense when he caught the man in his hotel room. This guy has agreed not to sue the county you were supposed to not be getting sued by being stupid. Are we clear?"

"Additionally, Mr. Cudd," said Jameson. "There is the question of you're violating the law coming into the hospital with a weapon, threatening a civilian, threatening another law enforcement agent, threatening an agent for another jurisdiction, false arrest, abuse of power, and harassment. In a few minutes, we're going to be talking to your lawyer about throwing the book at you."

"I'm still the Sheriff of Paradise County," said Cudd.

"You've been fired," said Hill. "The county put Joe Shavers in charge until things work out for an election. You're going away. Your cousin and Myron are also going to prison. You sign the deal, you get minimum time. You don't, every single thing you have ever done gets looked at again in the light of corruption charges which will get you years more than you want to do."

"It gets worse if they can prove corruption, Merv," said Des Grieux. "Everyone you ever arrested might be able to come after you for personal abuse of power and want a paycheck from you and the county. Being fired means you are going to ride that pony all alone."

"It can go into the millions of personal cost for you, Cudd," said Hill. "You will be paying people back for the rest of your natural life if you don't get a break from a judge willing to disbelieve that you didn't abuse your power."

"That brings us to Donna Ellis," said Martin. "She's not going to sue the county for your actions. Instead she is going to accept the settlement we agreed on and assume another identity somewhere else. After that, you are not to even think about looking for her."

"You can't be serious," said Cudd. "What did I do to her?"

"Fifty six traffic tickets in a month," said Hill. "Constant visits to pull her out of her work for no reason. Twenty five infractions on her property."

"She should have killed you long before this," said McNulty. "I know I would have."

"Not now, Jimmy," said Martin.

"She's a felon," said Cudd. "I had to look out for my community."

"The constant ticketing and workplace interruptions points to stalking," said Jameson. "This also goes with the fact that you trumped up charges to stop Mr. McNulty from leaving the county when you saw Donna Ellis was in his car. If this goes to court, it will be enough for me to prove that your obsessiveness with this woman caused you to cross the county line for the purpose of assaulting her and Mr. McNulty for impure motives leading back to your corruption and abuse of office."

"What we want you to do is sign the paperwork without a fuss," said Hill. "You take your punishment, and things will go better for you than I like."

"I'm not signing anything," declared Cudd.

"Sheriff Des Grieux," said Jameson. "Take this man down to the county jail and let him sit there until his arraignment. Once he is out on bail, he can be escorted across the county line. After that, if he doesn't arrive at court, I will want warrants sworn on him and the rest of his family, and I will want them extradited from Paradise County to our jail."

"You can't do that," protested Cudd. "I have shot up feet."

"It doesn't mean a thing to me if they rot and fall off," said Jameson. "The jail is just as good at treating your feet as the hospital. It's just not as roomy."

"The food is just as good," said Des Grieux.

"I'll sign your papers," said Cudd. "What about my cousin?"

"He'll get a lighter sentence as part of the deal," said Jameson. "Let me be clear. This is the last time I am doing this for you. The next time you're caught screwing up in my county, I will go after you with both guns and ask for the maximum sentence I can get."

"I got it," said Cudd. "Can I say goodbye to Donna at least?"

"She's already gone," said Hill. "We gave her the settlement and her car yesterday. She put her place up for sale and left."

"She left?," asked Cudd. "Where did she go?"

"Wherever she could start a new life without being hounded," said Hill. "You should have left her alone, Merv. None of this would have happened if you had."

"Here's the paperwork," said Jameson. He pulled a sheaf of papers out of a case sitting on a visitor's chair. "As soon as you sign and it's been notarized, we'll start moving you along."

"Come on, Jimmy," said Martin. "Our part in this is done."

McNulty waved at Cudd as they left the room. He followed his lawyer down to the elevator. The nurse that had warned him about Cudd was at the desk. He noted that she watched the two of them leave with something like relief.

"Thanks for the help, George," said McNulty.

"You should thank your Dr. Sear," said Martin. "You'd probably be sitting in jail if he hadn't called me."

They boarded the elevator and headed down to the ground floor.

"I didn't know he knew anybody out this way to be honest," said McNulty. "I always thought of him as someone who stayed at the morgue and cut people up."

"He helped me defend my toughest murder case," said Martin. "Everyone thought my client had killed a guy for his money. Cole proved that the killing blow couldn't have been done by my client. He showed the jury how he figured everything and then showed them who the real murderer had to be. As soon as he did that, I was able to file for dismissal and walk my client out the door."

"Why couldn't it have been your client?," asked McNulty.

"My client was a dwarf woman," said Martin. "The victim was a six foot five basketball player."

"I feel like I'm missing something," said McNulty. He scratched his eyebrow. "What was the murder weapon?"

"It was a pipe to the top of his head," said Martin. He demonstrated with the edge of his hand against the top of his own head. "Sear proved that there was no way that my client could deliver such a blow and kill the man with her arm span and strength. The murderer had to be just as tall to hit, and muscular to kill with a single blow like that."

"What if he had been lying down?," asked McNulty. "There are ways that short people can kill tall people. I have seen them."

"He was found sitting up in his chair," said Martin. "The contention of the prosecution was that she brought a step ladder into the home, climbed the ladder after he had taken too much alcohol to care, and whacked him on the top of his head with the pipe."

"Let me guess, your defense was she couldn't carry a step ladder into the guy's home at any time," said McNulty.

"She couldn't carry a step ladder period," said Martin. "As part of proving that, we had her demonstrate with several different models. None of them were compatible with her size."

McNulty laughed. The vision of the prosecution trying to prove that the defendant knocked someone on the head when she couldn't reach it filled him with glee as the imaginary prosecutor kept throwing ladders at her to climb.

"It never occurred to the jackass that she could have had an accomplice," said Martin. He shook his head.

"Wait," said McNulty. "What?"

"She planned the crime," said Martin. "She didn't commit it. Cole's testimony cleared her but implicated her accomplice. She got to walk, she went to Death Row."

"She turned state's evidence and said it was all the other's idea," said McNulty.

"It was her sister's idea," said Martin. He smiled. "She had to sign a deal, but she escaped most of the consequences."

"I would have bagged them both," said McNulty.

"Luckily, you weren't around," said Martin. "If this kind of thing is what you do unintentionally, I hate to see what you would do on purpose."

"Just think of it as doing my civic duty," said McNulty. "All of this over a dead woman's ring. It was almost like she was reaching from beyond the grave to help Donna out."

"Who said she didn't?," said Martin. He got off the elevator and walked off toward the afternoon sun beyond the glass front of the hospital.


End file.
